January 11, 2013 - Law360 quoted Manatt's David Herbst, a partner in the firm's Tax, Employee Benefits & Global Compensation Practice, on an unexpected move by the federal government to relax a health reform requirement that large employers provide every worker with medical benefits.

As reported by Law360, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service proposed new health reform regulations, which will mandate that 95 percent of a company's employees be covered under the Affordable Care Act. Originally, the law required 100 percent of employees to be covered. The two agencies said they want to respect the ACA's goals while also recognizing a "margin of error" so that companies aren't penalized. Under health reform, any employee who works at least 30 hours a week is considered to be a full-time employee entitled to health benefits.

"It sort of gives employers a little bit of grace, in that the rules for determining who are full-time employees are a little bit complicated," said Herbst.